Recently House Beautiful posted that our Grandma habits are making us healthier - mentally anyway. My mental health must be tip top. Not only did I take up needlepoint a few years ago, but last year I started playing bridge.

My bridge club is the most fun group of ladies. We have the best time together. It’s been great for me, because the other three have their kids in college. So I have been able to bounce parenting issues off of them. I highly recommend getting yourself a bridge group of moms with older kids. And then have a cocktail while you do it.

We play every week. Sometimes we play at the club and sometimes we play at one of our houses. We pretty much always play with a cocktail in hand. This week, supplied with Fresh Victor cocktail mixes, I made our drinks.

I am a snob when it comes to cocktail mixes.* I do not want one with sugar. I do not want one with anything fake. I do not want one that is just juice. I do not want one with food color. Fresh Victor fit the bill. Also, they taste good.

Fresh Victor has been SUPER GENEROUS and offered all of you a 20% discount when you order before July 31st. This means you are set for all of you spring and summer parties! Use code WNSFRESH20 when you order - click the link below! Stock up!

*I am always a snob.

This was taken after a cocktail….

Usually when we play we end up pouring a glass of white wine or making a ranch water. Mostly because none of us want to go to the effort to mix an ACTUAL cocktail. When you’re the dummy hand you could take the time. But do we actually want to? No. We’ve tried other short cuts before but I am a big fan of this short cut.

Our drinks were:

• Mexican Lime & Agave + Tequila + Squeeze of Lime

• Jalapeño Lime + Agave + Tequila + Squeeze of Lime + Ring of Jalapeño

• Cactus Pear + Pomegranate + Broken Shed Vodka + Squeeze of Lemon & Lime

• Grapefruit + Sea Salt + Broken Shed Vodka + Squeeze of Grapefruit

Why on earth did I choose Broken Shed Vodka, you ask? First, why not? Second, they sent it to me. Third, it’s really good.

Trying unique vodkas when we travel is really fun. Almost everywhere I’ve ever been has their own local brand of vodka. The good ones are made with fresh local water and distilled several times. We loved the vodka in Iceland and I was excited to try this New Zealand Vodka. It did not disappoint. Now New Zealand has moved up on our list of places to go!

Discount Code Details:

• For Online Store

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A signature cocktail is one of my favorite entertaining secrets.  It makes every party a little more fun – especially if you greet guests at the door with an ice cold drink!  You can also set up all of the ingredients and the recipe on a bar cart and let your guests make their own.

This year I used See’s Candies Candy Canes on the rim of my signature cocktail to add a little something extra.  Not only will it taste amazing, but the red and green stripes add a festive element. 

Peppermint Martini

2 ounces vanilla vodka

1 ounce peppermint schnapps

crushed candy cane

peppermint bitters

Pour a tablespoon of peppermint bitters into a low dish.  Pour crushed candy canes into a separate dish.  Dip martini glass in bitters first, then candy canes.  Shake off any excess. 

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake vodka and schnapps.  Strain into prepared glass and garnish with a candy cane. 

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This is it! It’s here! The best time of the year! The Fourth of July is literally the best time of the year ever. I will die on this hill. I cannot imagine anyone thinking any other time of the year is better than warm sunshine, beach days, rosé, and barbecues. At our house it calls for lots of people, lots of entertaining, and lots of food. Here are my ideas for what to serve on this fabulous holiday!

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Mother’s Day is this Sunday and I will be out of town eating brunch at a new restaurant in Palm Springs. In the event you haven’t planned to be out of town and in the sun, here are some ideas for your Mother’s Day brunch. I like when we celebrate first thing in the morning - usually, if we are in town, we go out somewhere for brunch. My favorite spots are near the market. Then we walk the market, buy some flowers, some fish for dinner, and have tiny doughnuts. It’s a delightful morning.

Scroll down for more ideas for shopping, dinner, and cocktails!

For Brunch

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for dinner

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More!

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bottoms up

Today is the day and my daughter is the most excited of anyone. We’re hosting a little movie night at our house tonight complete with all of the spooky foods, cocktails, and mocktails. Here’s a snapshot of what we’re doing!

For your drinking pleasure…

Corpse Reviver no.2 Cocktail

Super kid (and kid at heart) friendly

Halloween-ies with ketchup blood

It’s delish and a little elegant

Apple Cider Skull cakes

Spooky enough to eat a handful

Eyeball Meringues

For a Harry Potter binge

Butter Beer Cookies

For the kid’s at heart

Ice cream floats made with purple & green sodas

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Today is my birthday! I love my birthday. I’m a big fan of getting older - it’s so much better than the alternative. But it’s also fun! A day to celebrate me! With everyone I love. I’m so lucky to get to have a birthday.

In honor of my birthday, I’ve put together a bunch of my favorite things so you can celebrate along with me!

Very Cherry Birthday Punch

Literally the best champagne punch I have ever made. It’s my absolute favorite. My birthday cake every year is a Black Forest Cake - this goes perfectly with it!

Spaghetti with Clams

This is the best dinner ever. I order it every time it comes up on a menu - it’s almost all I ate when we were in Italy. I’m obsessed with clams - and in pasta with delicious olive oil - I’m extra obsessed.

Birthday Cake Cookies

These are actually perfect. They’re fluffy, filled with white chocolate chips, and covered in sprinkles. I cannot get enough of them! They’re perfect for those of us who don’t care about cake - but LOVE cookies.

Leave a comment if you decide to celebrate with me! I love to celebrate with all of my friends and you are some of my favorite friends.

When I was little we never separated into kids table/adults table.  We sat at one extremely long table with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and random friends that someone showed up with.  And we ate.  If there is one thing that my family has always done well, it's eat.

But I love the concept of a table filled with fun.  And fun things to do.  And fun.  There's a chance I will turn the entire table into a 'kid's table' this year.  I'm sort of smitten with the idea.

In case you are smitten too, here's what I did:

1. Covered the table with kraft paper.  You can draw on it and when you are done it's compostable {at least the kind I bought is compostable}

2. Drew on placemats and place cards.  Black pen = outlines for coloring everything else.

3. Created snack cornucopias out of ice cream cones.  Here's how to do it ::  dip the base of the cone in water for 20 seconds.  microwave the cone for 20 seconds.  bend the cone around a pencil and let sit until hard.  Stale cones work best.

4. Printed out games and activities to play.

5. Made play dough.  Arguably, you can buy it too.  But more fun to make it.

6.  Made handprint turkeys with the little turkeys.  Easy, trace their hand, cut it out, glue on.  Let them cut it out.

7.  Apple juice in milk jars = happy little hands.

Links:

Julie Blanner’s Word Search Printable

Somewhat Simple’s Thankful for Printable Cards

Playdoh Recipe from I Heart Naptime

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HAPPY SUPER BOWL WEEKEND! We’re so excited in our family. We watch football all fall. When it’s Monday night and football is in the background of dinner, my daughter rolls her eyes and says “football again?” But she still knows the players and teams, so it’s not like she hates it as much as she pretends. It started with my youngest’s obsession with football as a baby and has grown into a full blown preoccupation.

Super Bowl is literally the biggest thing at our house. Once it is over, my youngest sinks into a small depression when football ends and start watching reruns of games from the season. Then there’s combine, the draft, and the preseason. Do don’t worry about him too much. He’s already started setting up his mock draft for this off season.

For the kids cocktails this year I’ve been making fizzy lemonade. They love it. It’s just sparkling water that I stir in powdered lemonade. That’s what they’ll be drinking this Sunday. But it reminded me of beergaritas - also known as the Lemonade Shandy.

Lemonade Shandies are one of my favorite things to mix up when you host a party for a football game. They are boozy but not so boozy that you can’t keep up with the whole game (and the ads). Clearly we aren’t hosting parties this year thanks to the Covid which has literally ended all fun social interactions. I still left the ratios for the ingredients as punch bowl sized. I don’t recommend you drink the whole thing yourself. Think of it as ratios that you can adjust.

SUPER BOWL SHANDY

36 ounce corona beer

2 cups vodka

52 ounces lemonade

In a pitcher or a punch bowl, combine all of the ingredients and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Last week Kim Hildebrand and I hosted a cooking class + mini photo session and it was EPIC! We cooked, we laughed, we ate. It was such a fun class. Not only was it a fun class, but the girls really pitched in and did 90% of the work themselves.

I set up the table the same way I do it for every cooking class with a giant table down the middle of the bay of the fire station. After we’d all cooked together, we went to the bay for our ‘family brunch’ and all ate together. The girls had the best time sitting together, chatting, and then diving into cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes.

The menu for the class was simple. Pearl and I met the girls at the door with a Vanilla Float made with DRY Sparkling Vanilla and the moms with a glass of champagne. Have you tried a float with DRY Sparkling?? It’s just a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with DRY Sparkling Vanilla. It’s so ridiculously good. The Vanilla soda isn’t as sweet as most sodas so it compliments the ice cream perfectly - it still forms the little crust that’s on the top of the ice cream when you make a soda float. Let’s be honest, that’s really the best part.

The girls then made us all Ham & Cheese Puffs - basically on their own! I gave instructions and each girl took on a different job from slicing ingredients to rolling puff pastry to brushing the egg wash on everything. It was adorable how excited each girl got about the tasks - and even more adorable how they all wanted to help in the kitchen! It was proof that if we give our kids age appropriate jobs, they can totally cook dinner for us. If I can get your kids to help AND/OR cook for you once a week then my job is done and I will retire.

I don’t always believe in making dessert. But this was a special occasion and we needed something fabulous to finish off our brunch. My friends at Trophy made us Strawberry Cupcakes - a classic that’s always a hit. It’s the most delicious cupcake I have possibly had in a long time. It has strawberry frosting on top & a strawberry jam filling - I did not mean to eat the whole thing, but there you go. It disappeared.

Are you interested in coming to a Mommy & Me class? If so, leave a comment below - it would be a blast to do this again soon! If you want to come to a kid-free cooking class, sign up for notifications on Eventbrite and we’ll find out as soon as it’s posted!

all photos by Kim Hildebrand Photography

Mother’s Day at our house is almost always the same; we go to the Pike Place Market, buy flowers, doughnuts, and walk the market. Then we’ll pop into one of my favorite restaurants where Mr. Hedin has never made a reservation and still every year we manage to get into the brunch service and have a marvelous time.

Often we’ll pick up something for dinner while we’re there before we head home. We’ve been known to host a dinner in the evening for friends and family. This year we’ll still not be living in our real house so I’m not sure what will happen this year.

If your plans are also up in the air, try hosting a fabulously simple brunch that your kids could even make for you! Have them watch the video below and they can make it for you! Don’t forget to tag #weeknightsociety on Instagram if you make something so I can see how fabulously it turns out!

HAM & CHEESE PUFFS

serves 4

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out puff pastry and cut each sheet into 4 pieces 

STEP 2

Divide ham and cheese on top of the pastry.  

STEP 3

Beat the egg yolk and milk together and brush the edges of the pastry with the egg yolk mixture. 

STEP 4

Bring up the pastry corners and pinch them together.  Pinch down the sides where the egg wash is painted on.  

STEP 5

Brush the tops of the pastry with beaten egg yolk.  Bake 10 mins until cheese is bubbly

STEP 6

In a jar or a small bowl combine mustard, honey, olive oil, vinegar, and parsley.  Shake vigorously.  

½ lb ham, cut into cubes

8 oz gruyere cheese, cut into cubes

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tbs milk

4 cups mixed greens

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

½ cup olive oil

When you’re creating a super simple brunch like this, then don’t bother cooking a dessert yourself - especially when Trophy Cupcakes can do such a marvelous job. The new featured flavor for Mother’s Day is Lemon Raspberry Rose - is anything more heavenly than rose scented buttercream??? No. No, there isn’t.

And for a simple cocktail, combine chilled champagne + chambord in a cocktail glass and pop in a raspberry.

Whether you’re a mother, a step-mother, a god-mother, or a child of a mother - I hope you have a wonderful day.

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